Never Soloing Again
by thecagedsong
Summary: So, you've heard the Lisanna story too huh? About how my family turned their backs on poor little me and after beating me up I left to become stronger? Seems like everyone has heard that stupid story, and who doesn't love Sorcerer Weekly worthy guild gossip? I used too. But let me tell you what really happened. It started out like most of my adventures, me with no money...
1. No Good Deed

**No good deed…**

I was never going on a solo mission again, but let me explain. The whole travel to Edolas bit had taken more time in Earthland than it had in Edolas, which left poor little Lucy seriously strapped for cash as I had missed three weeks' worth of work. Everyone else had hangovers from the party last night though, and I really didn't want to take anyone away from Lisanna; the girl clearly had been through a rough patch and needed every friend she could get.

So I took a solo mission, everyone else was busy, so I just marked myself and the mission in the log book and left, I would be back before they were sober again anyway. It was supposed to be quick and easy, transporting a magical item through Red Forest, and I would be back home the next day. It was going so well too, the protection cross was safely delivered and the client had even offered to have me stay the night. It wasn't even a creepy offer because he was married with three kids, one a daughter about my age.

It was two hours till sunset though, and I really didn't want my guild mates knowing I was gone, (they had this thing where I'm not allowed to solo because we are a team or something) so camping it was. The kind man did give me a very nice gift, a basket of plenty that would feed the owner so long as she was in the forest. The basket was charmed for trips like this and apparently it was communal between the two towns to make trade easier. The red bean soup was amazing, but the lemon cake wasn't anything special. Still, definitely one of my favorite clients, I loved working for him.

When I started to make camp that night some very important facts presented themselves: Natsu was not there to make fire and the woods were dangerous. The monsters here were attracted to light magic and left dark magic users alone. Of course, there is no such thing as dark magic, just how you use it, if you have used magic to kill or harm unnecessarily, the monsters stay away from you. It was the perfect hideout for renegade wizards. This left two options, one was to try and navigate the forest at night calling out Loke or another spirit to keep me company, or use the tricks I learned on the run to get a shoddy night's rest.

Actually, I was so exhausted that, really, only the second option seemed smart. Forest solo camping tips from Lucy of Fairy Tail: climb a tree near a clearing and tie yourself inside a sleeping bag to one of the larger branches, nothing that high in a tree is a danger to your life and if you roll in the middle of the night, you are still safe because you are tied to the branch. I know, brilliant. Then stuff any extra clothes into the sleeping bag's case for a make-shift pillow. Finally, tie a string around your wrist and thread it through several of the surrounding branches, an added security measure if you are afraid of humans. It will tug you awake if someone got too close. I really should include these tips inside of my book.

Security set, I finally got to sleep, missing my usual companions, their noises of teasing and fighting extremely absent. Yep, no more solo missions for me.

And that was before the wanted wizards held a secret meeting below my carefully selected tree.

"So, did you take care of it?" a voice sounded through the night, waking me up, I was a naturally light sleeper.

"Yep, old fool thought he could bribe me, but every man worth his beer knows that only dead men tell no tales," someone else replied. There was a quick, harsh laugh and I felt my eyes grow as wide. That was killing, I just witnessed a killer admit he killed, holy black on a cat!

"He have anything good on him?" the first one asked.

"50,000 jewel and some gambling dice. Nothing important."

"Nice work Poison, Hastings has been a thorn in my side for far too long." I let out an involuntary gasp at that, Poison was the name of a wizard who had been on the run from the magic council for the past five years! One time he got close to the Heartphilia estate and Ms. Supetto made me stay locked in the attic for three days until they were sure he was gone.

I tried to cover up my mistake, but it was just my luck that there was no wind that night. The reaction to slap my hands over my mouth hadn't helped either, and now my security string worked against me by ruffling some nearby branches. Holding very still, I waited.

"Boo," he appeared in front of me and I let out a shriek. How short poison green hair and blindingly pale skin ever blended in with the shadows was beyond me, but it was enough to unbalance my perch and send a highly graceful shrieking girl swinging around the branch; I was only hanging on by the ropes and I had never felt more trapped. Fighting them off probably wouldn't work, so talking my way out of it would be my best bet. I was a skilled talker.

"Um, hello. I just woke up, what's going on?" Okay, mildly skilled talker, I swear I'm better when I am awake. Poison ripped me out of the sleeping bag and jumped with me to the ground, letting my rump thump painfully. I thought about giving them a lesson in manners, but aggravating them wasn't in my best interest; if they were anything like Phantom Gajeel then they would simply prove how unmannered they could be. I really didn't want to test them.

"Seems like just a traveler. What do you want to do boss?" the other man leaned down close to me and once again I couldn't control my reflexes. The guy had snake slits for a nose! It was a perfectly acceptable practice to throw my arms up in defense when he started to sniff my hair. Only Natsu was allowed to sniff me, and even then, any comments had better be on the good side.

"Oh, lookie here, we have an official wizard here with us. Looks like we caught a fairy."

"I think you're right Rabbit," Poison started running his hand down my hair and across my shoulders and back, I didn't even try repressing the disgusted shudder, "but I think we should check if she has wings and a tail just to make sure." Suddenly my jacket was ripped off and the last chance to talk my way out sank in the mud with it. Another survival tip: keep weapon on you while sleeping. My keys were still at my belt and it took mere seconds to summon Taurus as a distraction. Now I was scared and running at the first opening I saw. My feet were probably bloody and I felt it when my trusty golden bull fade back to the celestial spirit world. The Fleur Etoiles was back with my suitcase and things looked bad. Did I mention the whole never solo again thing? Because it was going down in history that Lucy Heartphilia would never solo again. I was surprisingly okay with that, but escape was my goal right now, and I couldn't let anything distract me.

A teenage girl, at least this teenage girl, couldn't outrun two full grown men indefinitely, so that left hiding and fighting. Hiding with Virgo it was, I didn't even know what sort of magic the other man (Rabbit?) used.

"Open, Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!"

"Why are we running Princess? Is it punishment time? You seem to have left your personal effects so I took the liberty of carrying them for you," my blessed pink maid appeared holding my suitcase. I love my spirits, truly, cracked nutcases and all

"I'll stop running the moment you dig me a good hiding hole and cover it back up without killing me." Virgo nodded, but before she could accomplish my request, a stream of poison shot through her body and I felt her return to the spirit world. Poison was behind me and Rabbit appeared in front, forcing me to come to a stop. The trees were too dense and there was nowhere to run.

"I got this one Poison, guilds are alerted when one bearing their mark dies; we don't have the resources to tangle with Fairy Tail right now."

"Fine, should I contact Lucian to start the rumors?" The next thing I knew was darkness and the sensation of falling. A scream was ripped from my throat and it echoed through what I assume to be a cavern. Eventually I hit solid ground, a nice painful bruise to add to my bleeding feet. I sighed and waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but nothing seemed to happen. After sitting for what felt like an hour I decided the darkness must be magical and went for one of my most reliable sources of light.

"Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!" the glowing circle announcing my magic gave off enough light to be able to tell there was absolutely nothing there. Disappointing.

"Um, Princess? Am I supposed to be seeing something? I'm more of a "lights on" kind of guy." Ugh, never, soloing, again.

"Stop being a pervert and light this place up Loke. I got hit with some spell and have no idea where we are." Loke complied and confirmed my earlier suspicion, Loke and I were the only things in this sea of black.

"You really got yourself into a mess this time Lucy, where are Natsu and Happy?" Loke asked good-naturedly.

"Umm, I may have made a mistake when I took that mission by myself…" There was silence as I refused to look Loke in the face.

"Okay, why don't you start from the beginning?" he asked evenly. I laughed nervously, but agreed.

"So we got back from Edolas right? Turns out Lisanna Strauss hadn't died, but was transported there! You remember Lisanna?" Loke nodded and smiled.

"She was quite the beauty, all dignity and cheer if I remember correctly. Glad she's not dead, Mira will be so happy. Continue."

"Well, yeah. I still needed money for my rent, which was overdue because time flows differently in Edolas, but I didn't want to take anyone away from being with Lisanna, so I took a solo mission by myself. Completed it too, but on the way back I camped in the Red Forest."

"Really Lucy?"

"Yeah, yeah, I've already admitted that this was all one bad idea, let me finish. Completed the job, got paid, set up camp in the forest by trying myself into a tree, and fell asleep. Then I overhear a conversation about one guy killing a guy named Hastings for another guy. Discovered their names were Poison and Rabbit, Poison is the only one I recognized. I lead them through the forest on a merry chase until Rabbit sent me to this black hole. Now you can reprimand me." I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself, seriously, my spirits asked for two things, never drop their keys and call them out before I die. When there was no yelling I opened one eye to see if Loke was frozen because of my stupidity or something. It could happen! You should see all the times words failed me after one of Natsu's stunts.

"With your bad decision making and rotten luck, I am surprised you are still alive." He said at last, sighing. "No one knows what kind of magic the wizard Black Rabbit uses, mostly because anyone who could have told ended up dead. We seem to be in a pocket dimension, nothing so full-fledged as Edolas, but certainly no longer Earthland. We might be stuck here a while."

"Uggh, great. My team is so going to kill me!"

"Yeah, if you don't die of starvation and dehydration first. We don't know the properties of this prison, it might just be a slower untraceable death! And none of us can visit Earthland while you are trapped in here! Get your priorities straight!" Loke was glaring at me and I shrugged sheepishly.

"You know that when I don't show up tomorrow my team will be after this guy like a cat on catnip. There is no way Erza, Natsu, Happy, or Gray _wouldn't_ come searching for me. It might take them a little longer because they want to make sure Lisanna is settled, but there is no way I'll be in here for more than a week."

"Dehydration kills in a week," Loke pointed out. He had visibly relaxed though when he realized the truth of my words. Fairy Tail didn't let any of their family just disappear, and it had saved lives before, including his. He would keep me alive until then.

"Virgo had a nasty poison splatter, Taurus probably did too, are they okay?" I asked. Normally they were sent back before something as damaging as straight poison got to them, and I just wanted to make sure.

"Yeah, yeah, give them another hour and they will be good as new. Time works differently between the worlds and we heal almost instantaneously when sent back. Focus on the problem at hand Lucy. Turn away and I'm going to light up this cave as much as I can, tell me if you see anything useful." I obeyed and felt the light grow brighter behind me. The light stopped on the floor but in every other direction all there was was more darkness.

"Nothing here, not even a real wall." The radiance dimmed to human levels and I let out a tired groan.

"Hey, look, I can't focus on the problem right now. I am functioning on less than four hours of sleep. Go back to the celestial world for a bit and ask the others for ideas, Lyra is surprisingly smart. I'll take a nap and call you when I wake up. That okay?" my lion looked like he wanted to argue, but couldn't find a better plan at the moment. Good kitty.

"Fine, but call Aries to make you some bedding. I'm going to need you in top form if we are going to get you out of here." I nodded and gave him a smile that turned into a yawn before closing his gate. Too late to back out now, I was just going to have to toughen up and find a way to be okay sleeping alone in the pitch black. I called Aries, and the poor lamb was even more scared of the dark than I was, which gave me courage in a strange way.

As a bonus, Aries refused to leave me alone until I fell asleep, which I only weakly protested. It was unnerving sleeping without the stars, and both of us knew it.

The next morning I called Loke out and was greeted with the pleasant sight of my suitcase.

"Sleep well Princess? Looks like Virgo was sent back so quickly your bag ended up in the celestial world for a little while." I couldn't help it, I squealed and dove for my bag greedily, quickly pulling out a new outfit and motioning for the spirit to turn around. One cheesy perverted line later, I was getting dressed and reveling in the feeling of clean clothes.

"You didn't have to slap so hard," Loke complained, "and I sure hope you came up with a brilliant idea in your sleep because the best we got was Lyra's suggestion of you summoning Aquarius with your spit and her drowning you in water."

"Actually, if you look in my suitcase there should be a wicker basket that can solve all of our problems. It's enchanted to provide food for travelers across the forest. I was supposed to give it back to Morning Town before I left for Magnolia, but that obviously isn't going to happen anytime soon." Loke found the basket and gave it to me after I finished changing.

Indeed, when I said the quick spell food and water appeared. Loke let out a huge sigh of relief. He was determined that I was going to be the first celestial wizard in a hundred years to die of old age, and me not starving in some shadow prison was a step closer to that goal.

"Don't just stand there, eat with me. I feel like a pig eating by myself." He laughed and joined in.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Loke asked, now all I had to do was fight off boredom until someone from the outside came to the rescue. I suppose it was a little like a fairy tale, but like hell was I _that _princess.

"I don't know. I brought my novel, so I could work on that, but I feel like moving. If you don't have anything better to do, can you show me some hand-to-hand combat moves?"

**A/N: So I promised you guys a fifth story before I started college, but I didn't get it up in time. So instead of the one shot, I am going to post my single completed chapter story. Expect one chapter every two days or so, you know, once I have internet. I am actually really proud of this one.**


	2. Dear Momma

November 22

Dear Mamma,

This morning I woke up in some kind of pocket dimension where everything is black and the only thing I've been able to touch so far is the floor. It helped that I went to sleep clutching my keys, while they don't give out light they are warm, and with Aries wool I slept pretty well. Still, being sent here by Poison and Rabbit has been a major downer on my life, they also mentioned someone named Lucian who would be spreading rumors, though I don't know what that's going to do. There is nothing but darkness here and I hate it.

Loke and I solved the food problem and we have Crux working on the light problem. I have a music lacrima, a camera lacrima, and a signal flare lacrima that Crux thinks I can turn into starlight lacrima. He is searching right now, and I have a feeling it is going to take a while.

I spent the morning training physically with Loke, just some more complicated kicks and punches for when my magic runs out. There wasn't much else to do and I needed to do something with him so that I could have light. I think I'll keep training though, it makes me feel like I'm being productive instead of waiting around like some wimpy damsel in distress.

It's weird writing this in the light of a glowing Crux, but my muscles hurt and I don't want to just stare at him. I wish Natsu and Happy were here, even if they were trapped with me, everything is more fun when we're together. Getting beat up is more fun, trains are more fun, everything is just better when Natsu is with me. He would probably be trying to blow up this prison with his fire magic right now, I would let him until my clothes caught fire and I found myself one outfit down.

I also spent some time today practicing my magical stamina, meditating and trying to call multiple spirits. Loke is a surprisingly good teacher, when he gets in the zone he leaves all of his flirty behavior behind, it's a nice change. I think this might be a good opportunity to get closer with my spirits Momma; maybe even Aquarius will start to love me like she loves you.

Love Always,

Lucy

November 29th

Dear Momma,

Even though I gave my friends a week to find me, I am a little surprised it has taken that long. Today is the seventh day I've been here and I cut my physical training short to pack up my stuff. All I have is this letter out and my pen, knowing my friends will spring me out of here any minute. Natsu and Gray probably turned finding me into a competition and that's why it took the full seven days, Erza had to keep them from sabotaging each other.

It's kinda funny thinking about our team, we fell together so accidentally. I mean, what would have happened if Mira hadn't asked me, the newbie, to try and keep Gray and Natsu from killing each other? Then Galuna Island also happened to be the four of us and Happy, and suddenly we were a team. I wouldn't want it any other way, even if it means having uninvited house guests at least three times a week. So long as they aren't insulting or costing me money, I sort of love having them there. After spending a week with just my spirits or by myself, I don't even care if I have no money or furniture, I just want Natsu and Happy to be sleeping on my bed or randomly using my bathroom, I miss them so much it hurts. Wow, those are random things to miss, but I do.

It feels like there is hole in my body, a part of me has been gone for too long and it has become a dull ache. The feeling is almost gone now, knowing Natsu, Gray, and Erza will be any moment is helping, but it won't completely go away until they are here. Cheesy I know, but you were the one who read me all the fairy tales and romances, if I turned into a ball of cheesiness, you only have yourself to blame.

Okay, I stopped writing for ten minutes to eat something and they still aren't here. If they don't get their butts over here to spring me soon, I swear I am going to kill them. It has been a week since I've bathed properly and if my smell doesn't knock them out, I will with all the training I've been doing. Seriously, I am so good with my whip right now I might not even be exaggerating. My magic has also come along really well, and I've taken to having one spirit out with me at all times. The nothingness starts to make me go crazy if I don't have someone here to look at. I can even keep a spirit out the entire night I'm sleeping, I am that good.

During this week I've also come really far with my novel, I wrote a scene that was so emotional and personal it made me cry while writing it. With all the stuff I've got done, maybe my friends should just leave me here a while longer—

No, bad joke, don't listen to that at all. I am going crazy here and I can't stop crying before bed every night. This place is messing with my head and I've started pinching and scratching myself to make sure I haven't died and gone to hell. Natsu, Erza, Gray, and Happy need to spring me out of here right now…but they will. I've been gone from Fairy Tail for a week and a day, and been trapped here for a week, they are coming to get me out.

I mean, what would the world think of a Fairy Tail that let one of their members fall off the face of Earthland? The damage to their pride alone should have all of Fairy Tail crashing through the darkness. Add the fact that I am their friend and the only conclusion is that they will be here any minute.

Love always from your patient and loved daughter,

_Lucy_

December 21

Dear Momma,

I know I wrote to you yesterday, but none of my spirits are contracted to come right now, a serious flaw in planning that needs to be fixed immediately. Natsu and the others haven't shown up yet, today is one month since I came here. I do hope they are alright, knowing Fairy Tail we probably bothered one of the Barum alliance and got into a huge guild war. Again.

Oh no, now I can't stop thinking about how injured those guys probably are. They might have found Poison and ended up on the wrong side of his magic, according to Taurus he can ooze it out of his skin as well and that would be just the thing to trip Natsu and Gray up. They have Wendy, so of course they are alright…

…unless she overtaxed herself healing those idiots again, I swear she would heal the stubbed toe of a bandit, apologizing all the while. Natsu and I almost have her completely out of her shell, but she still has trouble with the fighting aspect of being a Fairy Tail Wizard. No, Carla will look out for Wendy. She is a parent to Wendy as much as Natsu is to Happy. Everyone will be just fine.

But that won't stop me from worrying about them.

Love always from you pre-maturely gray daughter,

_Lucy_

January 7th

Dear Momma,

I'm scared. I have been having nightmares. They are weird nightmares, and I have been having them for the past week. Most of the time I can't even tell I'm asleep because all I see is the same blackness I see with my eyes open. It doesn't stop me from looking for something, anything. Sometimes I hear my friends voices, but I don't see anything, but without fail one of them (last night was Gray) will say in a heartbroken tone "I'm sorry Lucy" and then nothing.

I wake up screaming when I realize that they are completely gone. There literally is nothing else for me and most of the time when I wake up I didn't even know I was asleep. I can tell Loke is really worried about me, he isn't pushing me as hard in our training sessions. Good thing I didn't bring a mirror with me, I probably have bags under my eyes the size of coins.

I think it was New Years and Christmas that started these, the feeling is similar to the nightmares I had when I was 12 after those holidays if you remember, but instead of the empty house all loneliness looks like black.

Your lullabies helped me last time, but they were about fairies, stars, and forests. Now they just make me sad. Maybe if I can get Lyra to sing them I can fall asleep. I hope so.

Your not pretty but very loving daughter,

_Lucy_

February 25th

Dear Momma,

You will never guess what happened today, I finished my novel! I need to read it over and edit a few more things, but the scenes are all in place and the story complete. Happy and Natsu said that I would never get it completed, shows what they know. I wonder if Natsu and Happy will read it? I can totally get them a copy after I give the manuscript to Levy, but I can't imagine Natsu sitting still and taking time to read all 324 pages. What will probably happen is they will congratulate me then make me read it out loud to them, and I'll end up horse three times before we finish the book.

Finishing the book took so much more work than I thought it would, Dad was so wrong when he called being an author an easy route. My spirits actually helped a lot. Well, most spirits, Virgo tried to get me to but in a super racy sex scene involving bondage, but I closed her gate before she could get into too much detail. Lyra had tons of great ideas for slipping in metaphors and foreshadowing, and Gemini would turn into me and together we figured out exactly how I wanted the scene to be written. I even summoned Aquarius a couple of times to look it over, turns out she is a total grammar nazi.

I will probably have to re-write some scenes though, being in this cage turned the book a lot darker than I had meant for it to go. I am not going to lie Momma, my friends probably think I'm dead by now. Those four are the strongest team in Fairy Tail, and if they can't take out this guy and free me, no one can. I used imagine all the time what Gray would say to keep me practicing, Happy teasing me for looking funny while writing, how Erza would cry over the fact that the basket only gives Lemon cake and not strawberry, and the different things Natsu would draw in the air out of boredom: a dragon, him beating Gray, fairies with tails, quotes from my story.

But now, I can't remember what side of his neck Natsu has a scar on. I can't remember if Erza's every day armor goes down to her elbows or only cover her shoulders, or is it just a breast plate? I can't remember what color Happy has his guild mark. I can't remember the style of Gray's clothes or if his hair covers his ears. I forgot what their laughs sound like.

I'm not getting out of here. My team either failed or gave up on me and I will never see the stars again. I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this Momma. I know I need to stay strong and stay alive until I can get my spirits to the real world, but it's so dark and empty. No matter how I distract myself, the only background to this place, my memories of the past three months, is black.

My soul is rotting, I can feel it. One day I will wake up a husk and I will be glad it's over.

Love always,

_Lucy_

February 28th

Dear Momma,

Sorry for getting all gloomy in the last letter, luckily, Loke notice my mood and snapped me out of it. It went something like this:

"Lucy, are you okay?" Loke asked one day after noticing my heart wasn't into the combat training. I was dressed in celestial spirit clothes, but I wasn't working hard enough to break a sweat.

"I'm never getting out of here, am I?" (Sound familiar Momma?)

"What are you talking about?" Loke asked, astonished. I had never showed doubt before, just mild irritation and smiles. I think he loved me for it, but he of all people knew even the strong fell down sometime.

"It's been one hundred days since I saw the stars Loke. One hundred days since I've felt the sun on my face and laughed with my guild. They've probably forgotten about me." I sat down on my suitcase and buried my face in my hands. Loke walked over and knelt in front of me.

Taking my hand away from my face and touching our foreheads together, he gently said, "I thought the same thing after the first month, but it passed. You and I know those guys better than possibly anyone else in the guild. Natsu crossed dimensions to rescue the guild, Erza faced the Tower of Heaven and still tried to save Jellal from himself, Gray, from what you told me, almost gave his life for his master's memory. Those people won't leave you alone, they promised. Now, another possibility is that not as much time has passed in Earthland. I didn't bring it up before because I doubted any wizard was strong enough to control a dimension that ran on a different timeline, but it is possible. So let's not lose hope."

I smiled at his speech because he was right. I know Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Happy, there is a reason why they haven't rescued me yet. Just because I don't know the why, doesn't mean I am allowed to give up on them. They are my family and family doesn't give up on each other, it's one of the lessons a fairy tail wizard learns fast. They have not given up on me and I refuse to give up on them. His next sentence got my head back on straight.

"I still think Natsu and Gray need to be taught a lesson about leaving someone as pretty as you in here alone. Let's keep training so you can give it to them when you get back."

"You really think I could fight them?" I asked excitedly.

"Of course, don't make it a habit, because being gentle and strong is what makes you so amazing, but with surprise on your side you could definitely hold your own. They haven't spent five hours physically and three hours magically every day training, I guarantee that."

See how close I've grown to my spirits Momma? I promise to never lose faith in my friends again, and you taught me that a celestial wizard always keeps her promises.

Your always loving daughter,

_Lucy_

**A/N: I love logging onto my email account and deleting hundreds of favorite notifications for all my stories combined. Surprisingly enough this was actually the last chapter I wrote in the story, it took a long time to get into the right mood and it still makes me cry. Next chapter will be up soon, it's called "The Blind".**


	3. The Blind

**The Blind**

"Something's about to change Princess," Virgo said suddenly, interrupting my fight with myself. Gemini just reached the limits of their fifteen-minute transformation, (three times what they could do before training) and agreed with Virgo. Today I had been practicing keeping two gates open while in combat, and decided to use this moment to try and summon a third spirit. I had been done it twice before, but I had sort of blacked out each time. After mastering Urano Meteora, this was the next power threshold for me.

"Open, gate of the clock constellation. Horologium!" I fell to my knees from exertion, but managed to hold on to consciousness.

"Tell me what is happening with this space." I didn't have time for niceties, my magic was pushing the limit and I would have to close a gate soon.

"The pocket dimension is convulsing. I would suggest you send Virgo and Gemini back, gather your belongings, and take refuge inside me." Virgo had already packed up everything I owned in this small dimension before Horologium had finished speaking, only leaving out a starlight lacrima. At first I couldn't believe it, I was finally getting out of here. I was leaving. They my magic depleted some more and I gasped out the next part.

"Thanks Virgo, thanks Gemini, hopefully next time I see you it will be under the real sky." The spirits nodded and I felt the release of holding their gates as they transported back.

This time the ground shook and with a quick squeal, half exhilarated and half scared, I ducked inside my friend. If it started raining fire, Natsu was so going to get it.

"Hold on tight Princess," all of my spirits had taken to calling me that, everyone except Aquarius out of affection, and I allowed myself a quick smile as I braced myself against the sides of the clock and closed my eyes

.

"My time is up, I shall see you next time Princess. Enjoy Earthland." Horologium said. A bright light blinded me when I opened my eyes, so I kept them shut for a few seconds. Just before I was ready, a voice surprised me into flinching them open again.

"Is that Lucy?" a man asked. His voice was slightly familiar and it took me a moment to place it.

"Hibiki?" I asked. Blinking away the last of the sunspots, I realized it was indeed the Trimen of Blue Pegasus standing in the sunlight, a knocked out Black Rabbit and Poison behind them.

"Oh thank God!" I cried, really meaning it. Religion had never really been on my radar, but if there was a deity out there, he deserved to be thanked. I flung myself onto Hibiki in a hug before the three could even begin their usual playboy routine. Ren and Eve were pulled into the hug as well, and I only released them when I noticed the slight faces they were making. I'm sorry, but a washcloth and a single glass of water did not equal a clean Lucy.

"Eh, sorry about that. Black Rabbit trapped me in some weird shadow pocket dimension and I never got a proper bath. It should be March fourteenth by my count, what day is it really?" I was blabbering now, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Instead, I flung my arms out and twirled in the sunlight, enjoying the fresh breeze running through my hair.

"It's March fourteenth. Umm, how long were you in there?" Eve asked politely. It was very clear the Trimen were out of there comfort zone, and I took a small amount of pride in being the one to finally get them unbalanced. They were too coy for their own good 99% of the time.

"I spent five months in that stupid cage, I forgot what the sky looked like! Wohoo!" After I finished twirling and ended up flat on my back, I let myself just feel the grass. Eventually I sat up.

"Sorry about that, talk about a blind man seeing the sun. Where are we?"

"The Red Forest, our client asked us to find the killer of Johnathan Hastings so we defeated these guys and then you appeared out of nowhere inside of a talking clock." Eve answered, confused.

"I can never thank you enough for that. Poison is the actual killer, but he was ordered to by Black Rabbit. I overheard that conversation while traveling back from a job five months ago and they stuck me in that hell hole so Fairy Tail wouldn't be able to tell when I died. Luckily I had a Basket of Plenty, so I managed to stay alive." The breeze died down and I realized exactly how unpleasant I smelled, "Um…mind helping me get to a bath?"

"Sure, anything for a gorgeous Princess like you," Hibiki finally seemed recovered enough to flirt, "The main Blue Pegasus Guild Hall is about three miles from here, you can get refreshed there."

"Give me your bags," Ren said, refusing to look at me, "it's not that I like you, but someone so pretty shouldn't have to carry something that heavy."

"Done!" I said excitedly, throwing my stuff at the tall, dark, and handsome one, "Virgo has most of my laundry anyway, so it's really light. I have a fully completed novel in there though, so be careful. Lead the way!" Ren seemed flustered, and when Eve and Hibiki laughed at him, the tension left the air. I asked them about how things were going in the real world, desperate for any sort of news, what new wizard couples had gotten together (Ren and Sherry were still going strong), any scandals, and we had a very pleasant time. Without an audience, the boys seemed like real people.

One glorious bath later, I was standing in front of a mirror in the Blue Pegasus infirmary. My hair had been brought back to life, but it was about six inches longer than when I had gone in. Cancer had tried to get me to let him cut it, but I had refused since without a mirror I would've had no idea what it looked like. Pale, (seriously, it was almost translucent) skin that would take weeks at the beach not to be blinding was washed completely clean of sweat. The feeling made me want to cry from happiness.

Who knew that a girl could actually get a six-pack? It was faint, but clearly there and the hip bone slants. My bust had gone down a size, but my waist was tinier as well, making it an even trade as far as I was concerned. Erza had been eyeing my underwear for a while anyway; she could have whatever didn't fit. Then came the legs, and hot damn were they toned. Running every other morning with Sagittarius _had_ been a good idea.

I really didn't want to put my clothes back on, they were still sweaty from the morning's workout, but I didn't want them gone either! All that was left was the belt with my whip and keys. Someone knocked and came into the room, barely giving my time to dive behind the bed. She didn't seem fazed by my actions, or my nakedness, at all.

"Oh, Lucy is it? Sorry to intrude, but those clothes were stinking up the room. Allow me to show you to our stored clothes, I hope you don't mind. I'm Janelle." Okay, she held out a manicured hand I just stared. Taking someone's clothes while they are naked is a big nono, but other guilds did things differently; I could appreciate that. Other guilds might not feel bad about taking someone's clothes, but they might get offended when a brawl fight knocked their beer onto their shirt. Plus, as the naked one in the room, I really didn't have a choice. Though I suppose I could tell her off and steal her clothes, if we really wanted to find another option. I didn't want to offend my hosts though, so I just smiled and followed the girl while clutching my quickly recovered towel. (Look at me being a nice, proper Lady. Supetto would be so proud, once I, you know, got dressed.)

When we reached our destination, I immediately wanted to turn around and leave at the sight of "Blue Pegasus Extras". My style was cute and upbeat, I had worked hard on it, but not one thing here fit that style, it was more like dangerous and sexy. Still, it was better than the alternatives, (a towel) and in the interest of being polite and grateful, again, I gave Janelle a smile and went along with it. My size also limited the number of options and I ended up settling on a dark red mini-pencil skirt and a red and black diamond halter top that was connected on the back through a couple of strings, the colors looking great on my new glow-in-the-dark skin. I made the quiet resolve to get into my own clothes as quickly as possible.

Cancer came out as soon as the outfit was done and my hair ended up in a loose bun to match the more serious outfit, no bows and pony-tails in Blue Pegasus. Cancer also insisted on me doing my make-up, so I did some light natural make-up as well. Now I was really glad my body got toned, because even though I felt more like I was going clubbing than traveling, at least I could wear it without looking like a hippo.

All ready, keys and whip in place, I walked out to greet Master Bob, thank the Trimens one more time, and get to the nearest train station. Still, Blue Pegasus was famous for its attractive wizards, and it was nice to draw appreciative eyes from people who knew beauty when I walked into the room.

Okay, screw that, I felt like glowing, I felt like flying; it was wonderful to feel beautiful. Natsu and Happy could suck on their fat comments.

"My, my, Lucy dear, you do clean up nice. You sure there isn't anything I can do to tempt you away from Makarov and joining our guild?" Master Bob was behind the bar, so it was only a few quick steps to reach him.

"Sorry Master Bob, my heart belongs to Fairy Tail, I need to go make sure they know I'm okay. Thank you so much for helping me, I was going insane. I owe Blue Pegasus one, don't be afraid to cash it in." We shook hands and it took everything in me not to laugh when I remembered how uncomfortable he always made Natsu and Gray feel. Personally, Master Bob was my favorite guild master outside of Makarov, he understood celestial spirits and for helping Loke out, I could never think bad of him. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but probably realized I wasn't going to change my mind.

"I understand my dear, have a safe journey and I hope everything works out! Ren should be over there with your things." I nodded and wobbled to where he had pointed. I hadn't worn heels this high in ages, all I had were my combat boots for the past five months!

"Hey, thanks again for rescuing me, I think I'm ready to head home now." Ren had been talking to the other Trimens and all three of them gazed at me open-mouthed when I greeted them. For the first time in my life since running away, I was the one rendering people speechless.

"Lucy? I don't even recognize you." Hibiki said.

"Yeah, I looked like a mess before. Look, I'll be seeing you around okay? Stop by Fairy Tail next time you're in Magnolia." I grabbed my suitcase with a smile and a wave and made my way out of the building. Remembering the promise to return the basket of plenty I sent it in a package to Morning Town with a thank you note so they know that it had saved a life. I got plenty of stares, and I started counting the minutes until I could be back home with my normal clothes. The stares were no longer ego inflating, they were just uncomfortable, but that's what I get for enjoying myself while my guild was worried sick.

Wait, my apartment, I hadn't paid rent in five months, what happened to all my stuff? I had the money for two month's rent, but that was useless if I didn't live on Strawberry street anymore, what could have happened? The landlady had threatened to burn everything herself once if the fire alarm went off one more time, or maybe the greedy witch had sold everything to pay the rent! Or maybe someone had noticed no one coming home but an open window and decided to rob everything. Okay, this wasn't doing me any good, I will just head to the guild and one of my teammates should know what had happened to my stuff. Considering how much they were in my apartment themselves, they had to know. Hopefully, one of them would be in the guild instead of looking for me, I was not camping alone.

**A/N: Here is a short chapter, Blue Pegasus finally got to be the heroes! I'll be uploading the next chapter within the next 20 hours. It's called "Home".**

**BTW I love all of your reviews. Knowing that people like what I write is a huge deal for me.**

**thecagedsong**


	4. Home

_Read the chapter all the way through, it's not what it looks like._

**Home**

Fairy Tail looked exactly like I remembered it, something of an accomplishment considering the amount of brawls the guild got into on a regular basis. Kissing my Fairy Tail mark for good luck, a habit that I had developed to remember why I couldn't lose hope, I left my bag by the inside gate and opened the doors to home.

Just before I announced my presence to the guild, a sight stopped me cold. Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Happy were laughing together in the middle of the guild. _That's alright, _I finally convinced myself, _it isn't right to deny them happiness the whole time I was away. They are probably just taking a break. _I started making my way towards their table, the words "Hi guys! I'm alive! Isn't that great!" sitting on my lips when Mirajane noticed my arrival.

"LUCY!" she shrieked, clutching an empty tray to her chest. The entire guild was looking at me now, but it wasn't the heartfelt reunion I was expecting, no dreaming of.

"Um, hi?" it wasn't even the stunned looks Lisanna got when she returned. It was so strange it took me a second to understand the emotions at all. Caution, mistrust, confusion.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I demanded, unnerved.

"What are you doing here Lucy?" Cana asked from the bar. Geeze, something was seriously wrong here, Cana and I got along great ever since I hooked her up with that boy.

"I…I belong here. I'm a member of Fairy Tail and this is my home." I said slowly, holding my right hand up weakly in defense. This was not how it was supposed to go at all, I was supposed to be marching over to an overjoyed Natsu and punching him for not finding me sooner, not defending my right to be here. Where was the hugs and the party? I wasn't gone as long as Lisanna, but I expected something.

"Oh, so now we are good enough for you. Why don't you just go back to where ever the hell you were Lucy," Natsu said, glaring at me. He had never looked at me like that before, like I was the enemy. Why weren't they glad to see me? That one look caused my heart to shrivel up and die inside my chest. Erza was glaring at the table and Happy was looking concerned at Natsu.

"I-I don't understand," I finally said, "Something is wrong here, why is everyone mad at me? Didn't you miss me?"

"I'm with flamebrain on this one Lucy, do everyone a favor and just leave," Gray said, refusing to look at me. That was almost worse than Natsu's glaring, like I wasn't even worth his notice, like I was less than the dust on the ground. These were my best friends, the ones I prayed every day would come and save me from the darkness. Why were they acting like this?

"Gray? But-but,"

"Don't make me kick you out Lucy," Mira said softly. Tears flowed freely now, only unlike the last time I cried in front of the guild, I knew I was crying alone. Mira looked ready to give me a hug, and I wanted nothing more than her to give it to me, but Macao held her back with a hand on her shoulder.

"O-okay," I turned around and left as quickly as I should.

Wandering the streets of Magnolia I realized I had made a mistake. Turning and walking out was the last thing I should have done; I should have demanded an explanation first, or at least gotten one good punch in. Now I had nowhere to go and no idea what was going on. Eventually I made my way to the library to return a book I had taken with me on the job. The Library Helper was glad at least to see me. So, I must have done something to the guild. There, copies of Sorcerer Weekly, a guide to the current events of guild life.

It took a little longer than expected because, well, I just had to find out what color my aura was okay, and it was the December edition that had the article that ticked off my friends. **Exclusive Interview with Lucy Heartphilia: Fairy Tail not the friendship based guild everyone believes it to be?** Quickly turning to the pages it mentioned, I wanted to throw up. The article had a picture of me posing with a supposed reporter and detailed all about how I claimed the guild had beaten me and kicked me out. Supposedly, I had said Team Natsu only ever saw me as a replacement for Lisanna and they had called me weak before disowning me. Apparently Lisanna had come to me afterwards and claimed to have orchestrated the entire thing in a fit of petty jealousy. It detailed horrible things about nearly every member of Fairy Tail and ended with how I knew I deserved better than that and was going to go and prove it the world. My signature dotted the bottom of the page.

It was the biggest pack of lies and impossibilities I had ever read. No wonder the guild hated me, I kind of hated myself right now and I knew I was innocent. The writer inside had to compliment the evil genius of it. The guild was the only reason they didn't kill me right away, but once they severed the connection, there was no reason not to kill me because no one cared anyway.

But Black Rabbit and Poison were behind bars and I was going to win my friends back. Even if I had to dress like this as I did it. Stupid scary landlady, she probably already sold all of my normal clothes.

Now, Natsu would be my first choice of ally, there was no way he didn't find this interview fishy, but, I had no idea where he lived. I had never had to go out and find Natsu before, he found me whether I wanted him to or not. Levy wasn't in the guild, but neither were Jet and Droy, so she was probably out on a job. I also had the sneaking suspicion my heart would never recover if Levy or Wendy looked at me with those betrayed eyes, and after the detailed accusations against Lisanna, the Strausses were out too. That left sneaking into Fairy Hills and waiting for Erza or tracking down Gray's apartment somewhere on Lime Street and waiting for him there. Gray was more levelheaded than Erza, and less likely to stick a sword in me, so Gray it was.

But first… there it was, the book I had been waiting over a year for! After checking out my precious treasure, I left and found out where Gray lived with little difficulty. I would make him listen, and I would get all my friends back, I just had to wait for him to come home….

…and until then, Moriah, the half-siren-half-human, would just have to continue her adventure in the dystopian world where her magic was outlawed and all she wanted to do was find her all human brother. I know, I know, what a sacrifice, but I do what I have to in order to complete Mission Friend Retrieval.

**A/N: Someone reviewed and said this was a typical story, well it's not. It actually started as a way to get Lucy out and more trained without anyone in the guild acting out of character. It was to show it could happen without turning Lisanna into a villain or having Lucy swear revenge on fairy tail or any of that non-sense. Stay tuned if you want to read real reactions from the guild during Lucy leaving mysteriously. **

**Psst, I'm not typical. The next chapter is called "the story".**


	5. The Story

The Story

_She ached to sing, it was in her blood. He was standing in front of her demanding the truth. It would ruin the entire life she had built for herself if he found out, and with a few notes she could make him forget everything. They could go on with their secret flirtations and moonlit meetings, all it would take was—_

"Lucy?"

"AHHHHH!" I spazzed, accidentally falling down a couple of the steps I had been sitting on. Wait, where was the book? It was falling farther down the cracks and I desperately scrambled after it, "Save the Book!" I yelled at the confused ice mage.

He picked up the book before it slid past his feet and I collapsed in an undignified heap in front of him. Using the only part of my body that hadn't been bruised in my rescue, I glared at Gray.

"I was at a really good part," I whined, uselessly swiping my hand towards him in an attempt to reach my literary diamond. Maybe it was more like a lung, or a spleen, I needed it. Gray just stared at me. Oh yeah, Mission Friend Retrieval, that was more important than my spleen and the book. Wait why was he…Oh crap! I was still in the micromini skirt from Blue Pegasus!

Fast as I could I stood up and fixed my outfit, blushing a deep red.

*cough* "Sorry about that, I've been waiting forever for that book. Can I, um, come inside? I think there are a few things I need to explain," I pleaded shyly. If this failed, I would have to try Erza. I really didn't want to try Erza. Please don't make me try Erza.

"I guess, how did you know where I lived?" he asked, apparently either my mad telepathy skill or my utterly ridiculous display had convinced him of something, because there was not as much edge to his words as when we were in the guild.

"I asked someone on the street where I should send some pants I had found lying on the ground after a guy stripped while running. Your neighbor sighed and told me to come here. I figure they would get things like that fairly often." His apartment was small: minimalist, but tasteful. I sat on his dark blue couch while he went into the kitchen for something. Now, I am not shy about my body, but I did prefer to have my serious conversations while wearing more than Blue Pegasus extras.

"Can I borrow a shirt Gray?" I called to him, "These Blue Pegasus clothes are embarrassing." He tossed me a shirt from the kitchen, I wasn't sure if it was an answer to my request or his usual stripping tendencies, but either way I felt a lot better with it on. He sat down on an armchair across from me and glared.

"Okay Lucy, why don't you start with how you told Sorcerer Weekly a bunch of lies and dragged Fairy Tail's name through the mud. Then explain the Blue Pegasus clothes." Huh, not how Mission Friend Retrieval was supposed to start, but it was more than the door in my face I was expecting.

"The story actually starts November 20th, the day after we returned from Edolas if you don't mind." He nodded, and I felt emboldened. Gray knew there was something fishy about the whole thing too, but he was too hurt to act on it. I could work with that.

"Okay, so I was 30,000 short for my rent for December so I took a quick solo mission. Everyone else was hung over from the party, and I didn't want to take away any of Lisanna's friends after she lost them for two years. Easy delivery mission across the Red Forest, finished it with just enough time to start making my way back. I camped out in a tree like I did when I was on the run from my dad, and everything was hunky-dory until I overheard a conversation between Black Rabbit and Poison, those evil wanted murderers? Yeah, them." Gray looked mildly concerned at this point, and it was more than I hoped for.

"Well, they caught me eavesdropping and just as I was about to make my final escape, Rabbit trapped me in some weird pocket dimension." I had been completely surrounded and outclassed, but those were minor details, "I stayed there for about five months, training and writing, until the Blue Pegasus Trimen apparently took the S-class quest to hunt him down. Once they had the magic sealing cuffs on him, the dimension collapsed and I made it out with Horologium. They let me get cleaned up at their place, and believe it or not these were the most modest clothes they had. Then I enter my lovely guild, expecting a tearful reunion with my friends who had spent months searching for me, and was told to leave them alone. I figured out what had happened, and decided to come here to explain my story."

I reached over and gave him a solid punch to the shoulder, "that was for leaving me in a pitch black hell for five months." It felt nice to see my hit send him out of his chair and onto the ground. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best course of action for Mission Friend Retrieval, but it certainly felt good. He jumped right back of and glared at me.

"Well, what the hell was I supposed to think? You leave without telling anyone and the first thing we see is an interview bashing all your friends. Then you walk into Fairy Tail like nothing even happened looking like a goddess and I seriously—" Oh, there was the rage; I had been waiting for it to show up.

"How about the benefit of the doubt? I love Fairy Tail and everyone knew it! Hell, Gajeel beat me to a bloody pulp and all I could talk about was how much I trusted Fairy Tail. You tossed me 75 feet into the air onto a moving rollercoaster being controlled by an insane freak, and I let you. I was gone for two weeks before the Sorcerer Weekly came out, where the hell were you?" I started crying at this point, all the fear and loneliness I had repressed over my time spent in the cage came spilling out all at once.

"Every day I waited for someone to show up, for fire or ice or swords to pierce the stupid darkness. After the second month I was worried something had happened to you, the third month I started to lose hope, but every single time I felt like it was useless, I wrote down all the times Fairy Tail had gone above and beyond to help one of their own. There was nothing there Gray. Only black," I kept crying and with a poof, Loke was beside me. I had never called him while in emotional distress before, but at that moment I didn't care. I grabbed his suit jacket and cried into it as his arms came around me. I could just feel the scowl he was shooting Gray.

Gray came and sat on my other side. His hand pulled out Cancers elaborate hair do and he started messing with my hair. It was exactly what I needed to calm down.

"I'm sorry," I sniffed, "I know it isn't your fault, I just needed to cry after months of being strong, you know?" I gave him and Loke a sad smile.

"I got it from here Loke," Gray said, "she won't be crying anymore if I can help it," a gentle tug and Gray pulled me into a hug as the spirit disappeared, seemingly satisfied with Gray's response. Some friends don't need words, Loke was now one of mine.

"And you are right, I should have realized something was wrong sooner. You are one of the nicest people I know, and there is no way you could betray Fairy Tail."

"It's okay, you kind of had the facts on your side. I got my punch in, so I forgive you." He let go of me and I smiled softly. The silence started to get awkward.

"So," Gray started, "I'm really glad you came and explained everything, but why did you chose me?" I couldn't stop the blush.

"Well, I knew that it was between you, Erza, and Natsu. You guys know me the best and would be willing to listen if I asked to explain myself. I kind of didn't want to have to tell my story at sword point, so I came here." Please don't ask, please don't ask, please don't—

"Why not Natsu?" —ask.

"Don't laugh okay? I don't actually know where Natsu lives." He laughed anyway, jerk. In retaliation I stuck my tongue out at him, but that only seemed to make him laugh more.

"You two were so joined at the hip, everywhere it was Natsu and Lucy, Natsu and Lucy, Nalu for the win, and you don't even know where he lives?" I smack him on the shoulder.

"You of all people should understand that I never had to look for him. He was just always there whether I wanted him to be or not! If you think your punch was hard, wait until you see what I do to him." He kept laughing and I finally gave in and laughed along. This is why Gray was great. We connect to each other on a mental level.

"Okay, seriously though, how are we going to convince everyone else at the guild that I'm not a stuck up backstabbing diva?"

"I think you were right to convince us first. We are not only the most likely to believe you, but we were the most hurt. If we are on your side, you had one hell of an explanation. I can take you to Natsu's house and I know where Erza practices in the morning, we can talk to her there. Natsu was still at the guild when I left, so we have some time. He looked like he wasn't going to be moving. Want anything?"

"Tea if you have it. Do you know what happened to my stuff and my apartment?"

Gray answered while he got up to make the tea, "Your stuff all got moved out to a warehouse on the outskirts, your place was put up for rent back in December, but it doesn't look like anyone has taken it yet, so you have a good chance of getting it back. Natsu may have stolen your bed though." Of course he did, I could have committed murder and he still would have taken that thing, no I could have murdered him in that bed and his ghost would take it. Gray returned and brought out a sandwich as well for me. Realizing that I actually was hungry, I enjoyed the meal and told Gray that I had managed to finish my book. Soon as I got a copying spell for the manuscript he could read it. I had edited that thing so many times, I wasn't even scared of people reading it anymore.

"If we leave now we should beat Natsu back to his house," Gray said, and both of us headed down the stairs, me clutching my library book tightly. I flipped the punk off Shakespeare style when he laughed.

That reminded me, "So Gray, I walked in looking like a goddess huh?" this time he blushed and clammed up. It took a moment for him to come up with a retort.

"You are a compliment slut, you know that? One little compliment will go to your head and have you prancing around and giggling for an hour at least."

"Of course, I love compliments, so long as they are sincere. You yelled it while you were angry, you can't get more sincere than that. What can I say? Us goddesses love to be worshipped." I kept laughing until I realized someone on the street had stopped and was listening to our entire conversation. It was Juvia, carrying groceries, and in a split second I understood exactly what it looked like. I wearing Gray's shirt and kind of sort of flirting with him.

"It's not what I looks like!" I yell at the water mage, panicking. I try to pull Gray's shirt over my head, but I am not blessed with his stripping skills, and it got stuck on my earring. Being the graceful princess that I was, I proceeded to hop around on one foot trying to get the large shirt over my head. That stopped when I fell off balance and managed to take both Gray and Juvia with me on my little field trip into the cement.

Someone seemed to have had enough of my little show because the shirt was yanked the rest of the way off as I gave a little whimper. My head was in Juvia's stomach while my foot was pinning Gray in the chest. You would think all my combat training with Loke would have made me at least a little graceful, but nooooo.

"Sorry Juvia, but this really isn't what it looks like. I never did an interview with Sorcerer Weekly and actually spent five months trapped in a pocket dimension made out of darkness that I only escaped when the Blue Pegasus Trimens captured the evil wizard that put me there. They gave me these clothes and I felt uncomfortable so I asked Gray for his shirt and I forgot about it till just now and-please-believe-me." I said in a rush. Juvia eyed me like I was crazy, which I admit was a fair assessment when my story was put like that.

"She is telling the truth Juvia," Gray supported, "and what story makes more sense? Lucy was kidnapped and someone faked an interview with Sorcerer Weekly so we wouldn't look for her or she completely turned her back on the guild and friends on a whim one day after saving everyone from Edolas." Juvia's critical stare was unnerving and I put myself in the begging position.

"Love-rival does have the unfortunate habit of getting kidnapped… and Juvia remembers a man who left Phantom Lord who had magic like that…Juvia believes Lucy." I squealed and hugged her. Mission Friend Retrieval was working out so well, even if the main influencing factors were my clutziness and innate attraction to kidnappers. Whatever, small details.

"Thank you so much Juvia, you don't know how much this means to me. Having every single one of my friends look at me like that was the worst feeling in the world." She returned my hug, and it only then occurred to me why she was out this far carrying groceries when she lived at Fairy Hills. Looks like Gruvia didn't go anywhere while I was away. Gray and I then helped her carry her shopping bags for a bit before we split off to go to Natsu's house.

**Happy Monday, hear, dry your emotional tears from the manga chapter with my fanfiction. I guess this one could be considered Graylu, consider it my tribute to the amazing relationship Gray and Lucy have, though this is a Nalu story. Natsu just gets to be saved for the climax.**

**The next one is called "the Storyteller". **


	6. The Storyteller

**The Storyteller**

"_The best place by the fire was always reserved for the storyteller…" _Jimi Hendrix

I was pointing out different constellation to Gray, reveling in my chance to see them for the first time in forever, when Gray surprised me.

"I missed you," he said softly.

"Eh?" I ask.

"I can't believe I ever convinced myself I could hate you, you are a little ball of sunshine and energy you know." How could I not blush at something like that?

"I seem to remember spending minutes sobbing into your shirt less than an hour ago," I point out, "and anyone would be excited to see real nighttime again after what I went through." He just put a hand on my hair to ruffle it again and smiled. Yeah, I got it, I missed him too.

We came on Natus's house finally and I couldn't help but let out a squeak, "It's so adorable!" It was; there were trees growing out of it and it had a little sign saying it belonged to Natsu and Happy.

"Yeah, wait until you see the inside," Gray said and I rushed ahead to see what he was talking about. Natsu had left the door unlocked, so I ran right in…and tripped over garbage. Really, it was hard not to, it covered 80 percent of the floor.

"Disgusting!" I shout, back pedaling into Gray. He just laughed and finished pushing his way in.

"Come on, think of it as payback for all the times he has snuck into your apartment." I shake my head.

"I don't care if he hates me right now, I refuse to let him and Happy live like this. And I refuse to try to have a serious conversation with him while food is rotting on the floor. Collect all the dishes and put them in the sink." I then proceed to pick up all the dirty clothes on the floor and put them into a pile. Gray grumbled something about insane people, but he does what I ask. Ha, who is more insane? The insane person or the person following her?

Gray and I proceeded to clean the entire apartment under my instruction, and it made me happy what I found, seems like Natsu didn't completely hate me if he still had that maid costume and a special note next to the Everlue request. Of course me seeing it means that my partner in clean saw it too.

"Natsu might be in a really forgiving mood if you put that back on."

I throw the latest dirty sock I found while sweeping under the couch at Gray's face and he refrains from commenting on any more of Natsu's knickknacks. I do see him give a long stare at the Galuna Island necklace though. Oh, and Natsu actually did take my bed, luckily it seemed to be the only thing in the room _not_ covered in grime and muck.

We finish much faster than I thought we would and we end up on the bed, staring at each other. I can't take the silence for long and I end up telling him the story behind the maid outfit. When that finished I told him the story behind the Salamanders autograph, wistfulness coloring my tone as I think about the beginning of our friendship.

"Gray, what if Natsu still hates me after this? I don't think I can handle that. Every time I woke up for the past month I expected to see his fire lighting up the darkness promising to take me back to Fairy Tail. He can't hate me, he just can't." words fail me, the authoress, as I try to explain how important Natsu is. Gray gets uncomfortable fast and sort of reaches out a hand that stops in mid-air. He pulls it back and talks instead.

"Hey, I promised Loke no more tears, we will make him listen, even if we have to tie him down and refuse to give him food and water until he does. It's all just one big misunderstanding that we are going to fix, alright?" I nod and any gathering tears recede.

"If that fails, there is always the maid costume," he says and I smack him again.

Natsu slams the door open at that moment and we are back to staring. I'm the first thing he notices, then Gray as the frown intensifies, and finally the room, which wipes all expressions from his face.

"Natsu, go in already," Happy whined, pushing Natsu to the side so he could get in through the door. "NATSU! SINCE WHEN DID WE HAVE A CARPET?!" Happy then proceeded to roll around on the carpet I uncovered and vaccumed, while Natsu continued to stare at me.

"Erm, I hope it's okay that I cleaned up a bit. I wanted to explain what happened to you without smelling rotten fruit." Natsu's face hardens at the reminder that he is mad at me. How did I become an author again? I seem to screw up every time I open mouth.

"You get ten minutes to explain yourself, I owe you that much." I nodded gratefully.

"First off, I never did an article with Sorcerer Weekly, and it's rather impossible since I've spent my last five months in a black hole…" and I explain everything again. As the story goes on, I know I have a captive audience, so I let the story-teller in me take over. Ten minutes turns into thirty as I go into more detail, keeping even Gray, who had heard everything twice already, interested. Somewhere before I figure out how to feed myself, but after being chased by Poison Natsu ends up on the bed next to me and Happy curls up in my lap. When I finish I can't help thinking that this is exactly how it is supposed to be, Natsu on my right, Happy in my lap, and Gray on my left. I just need Erza in front of me or hanging off my shoulder and everything will be perfect again. Nothing can take the five of us down, The Kingdom of Edolas certainly couldn't.

"Now, mind if I fulfill one of my promises to myself? You know how important they are to me." Natsu snapped out of his daze and I took the opportunity sock him in the stomach, feeling a very satisfied puff of air escape him. Gray laughed while Happy stayed asleep.

"Geeze, you weren't kidding about the getting stronger part, but I guess I deserved it after believing you would ever betray Fairy Tail... I don't think I ever did actually." I snort and look away.

"Sure felt like you hated me at the guild," I say quietly, "but I forgive you, everything makes sense now."

"I could never hate you Lucy," he said seriously, grabbing my hand and squeezing it, "I am so sorry and take back everything at guild. I can't believe I had been waiting for you to explain yourself and never gave you the chance, but there was no physical proof."

"Did you ever think to check the request book? I signed my job off myself." Crickets were chirping in the background.

I could get mad again, but that took up too much energy, instead I just sighed and resigned myself to having idiots as best friends.

"Now we just have to convince the rest of the guild of my innocence and then get Sorcerer Weekly to retract the fake interview." We all thought about the task ahead of us, it didn't feel so daunting with these idiots by my side.

"Erza is tomorrow morning," I decide, "Where does she practice Gray?"

"She uses the beach by Fairy Hills, she'll be there from four to seven in the morning," he answered.

"I'll make it so my run ends there and see what happens. I'm probably better off trying to convince her on my own, though feel free to come if it takes longer than an hour. She'll need help burying the body if I can't convince her by then."

"Where are you going to sleep tonight?" Gray asked.

"Hmm, it's what? Eleven? Can we all just sleep right here? It'll be midnight by the time you get back to your house Gray, and we sleep like this on missions." The boys still seemed opposed to the idea, so I yanked their bodies down until the three of us were lying somewhat comfortably together on my bed and then I used my secret weapon.

"Please? I miss having people sleep next to me and I don't want to dream of the cage." There was no more complaints and the four of us settled in for the night.

**This is a shorter chapter, but I plan on uploading the next one tomorrow, which will be called **_**Showing Your Butt to the World. **_**It's a really good chapter to make up for the lack of things happening in this chapter. Sorry if there isn't as much Nalu as you guys were hoping for.**


	7. Showing Your Butt to the World

**Showing Your Butt to the World…**

…or at least your three best friends

Now, I never knew exactly what time my internal clock had decided was morning while I was in the cage, but I woke up completely rested sometime after dawn. Light came through the window in beams, signaling it hadn't been very long since the day broke. Gray and Natsu were still holding my hands, and luckily Gray had kept his clothes instead of stripping like usual. There would be hell to pay if Gray had woken up naked, in my bed, next to me, in Natsu's house, so small blessings. The guys were so out of it, it wasn't very hard to untangle myself and leave out the door. I made sure to leave a note this time saying I was going to meet up with Erza.

I called for Virgo to get me my clothes, now fully laundered and smelling of the light watery fragrance I associated with the celestial world. Sagittarius came next to be my running coach, and we set off. I learned it was five ten, celestial spirits always knew what time of day it was when they could see the sky. It was a light running day so I took my time to enjoy the outside world before reaching Erza at six thirty. Sagittarius gave his usual salute before leaving me alone with the queen of the fairies.

"Hey! Erza!" I called out as I stopped, panting heavily. The armored mage finished a practice dance with a glaive ten feet in front of me and I wasn't sure what to make of her expression.

"What brings you here?" her tone was no nonsense and I pit back a gulp. Remember, you are innocent, this was all just a misunderstanding, Erza doesn't kill people. Natsu and Gray always exaggerate.

"There has been a mistake. I never betrayed Fairy Tail. I have been locked in a shadow prison for the past five months made by the wizard Black Rabbit after over hearing him and Poison talk about killing someone. This morning was the first dawn I have seen since then." I spare a look over the ocean, and even though the sun rose on the other side, it still looked beautiful with the light reflecting off the small waves. Erza's voice was cold as she replied.

"I am not sure I believe you Lucy, I wish everything could be false, but the interview talked about my relationship with Jellal. You, Gray, Wendy, and Natsu were the only people who knew anything about that. Stop Lying." I didn't remember reading that, but I quickly scrambled for an explanation, knowing I would be tasting metal if I didn't have a good one.

And I found it.

"I wrote to my mom about it a couple of times," I confess, "I have no idea where all my stuff ended up, but whoever did that fake interview must have read my letters. You have the promise of a celestial wizard that I did not have an interview with Sorcerer Weekly and instead spent five months in a cage made out of darkness. I will call out any of my spirits to confirm this, and Natsu and Gray believe me." She continued to eye me wearily and I really wished she would put the sharp, pointy things away while she did.

"After that article I can't trust your word anymore Lucy. Try again."

"In the Fairy Tail log book I signed myself out on a mission to transport an item across the Red Forest, the last physical evidence of myself in this world was me completing it on my own. That night I got kidnapped. Check the book," she still didn't look convinced, so I continued on, desperately blurting out everything I could think of, "…and then I will let you read all the letters I wrote to my mom while I was stuck there. If that can't convince you, we can contact the Trimen of Blue Pegasus, the ones who took down Fang and freed me." Erza considered my words, before finally nodding. I could see it in her face, she wants to believe me, but she wont let herself be taken in, something really terrible must have happened while I was gone for her to be this guarded. Shoot, I spent months trying to get her to open up, looks like I have to start from scratch.

Of course, getting her to believe I wasn't a traitor is the first step.

"Fine, allow me to finish my practice and we will look together at the log book and your letters." I knew it was so she could beat me up the moment my words proved false because she seemed surprised when I agreed.

I watched her start up another pattern dance and everything I learned from Loke and Taurus about spear weapons flooded into my mind. I saw where my whip could disarm her, and felt the burning desire to try it out.

"Hey Erza? Want a sparring partner for the rest of your practice?" I call out, against my better judgment.

"You want to fight me?" I shrug lightly.

"In the cage I spent all my time training and writing. Loke and Taurus taught me some things I want to try out. With your permission of course." Putting aside all feelings towards me, Erza agreed and we went at it. I surprised her with my new skill and strength, managing to disarm her on the second try, but before I could follow up the weapon was back in her hands and I was dodging for my life. I barely held her off for the next twenty minutes before we were interrupted.

Nalu********************************************************************

Natsu was sleeping better than he had in months, it was Lucy's bed with Lucy's smell, and he didn't ever want to leave. He rolled closer to where Lucy was and grabbed her hand again, they must have let go sometime during the night. Just as he was about to lose consciousness completely he heard a click and Happy's giggle. Opening his eyes he saw not the fit, gorgeous blond he had fallen asleep next to but a shirtless stripper.

"AHHHH!" Natsu yelled jumping away as fast as he could. Not fast enough because Gray's eyes shot open and saw their linked hands before copying Natsu's reaction.

"I can't wait to show this to everyone at the guild," Happy crackled, holding a very clear picture of him and Gray on the bed.

"Oh no you don't!" Gray yelled, jumping after the feline. Natsu joined in, but they ended up crashing into each other when the cat jumped.

"Sorry Gray, you might be strong, but I can fly," and he took off through the air where they couldn't follow him.

"Wait, where did Lucy go?" Natsu asked, rubbing his head where they had collided.

"She must have gone after Erza already," Gray said. Five seconds later that statement was processed.

"She went after Erza!" they both shouted, the idea seeming a lot more insane now that they had a decent night's sleep. Erza was going to kill Lucy for what she said about her and Jellal. The boys raced out of the house and down the beach as fast as they could.

They came across Erza and Lucy fighting each other, looking ready to go in for the kill.

"Ice-make Wall!" Gray shouted, a wall of ice springing up between his two teammates.

"What the hell Erza?" Natsu shouted, running to Lucy's side and helping her up after she knocked into it. Gray tried to do the same for Erza, but instead of the smile Natsu got, he was shoved to the ground.

"Natsu! Gray! How dare you interrupt our sparring match?" Erza re-equipped into a hammer the size of Gray's torso and used three hits to shatter his hasty wall.

The fourth hit met Natsu's head.

"It's alright guys, Erza wasn't going full out on me, just pushing my combat skills. Honestly, I was about to collapse anyway Erza, twenty minutes with you is worse than an hour with Loke." Erza accepted this and changed back into her everyday clothes.

"It was a pleasure Lucy, your spirits must have been teaching you a new style, because I certainly have never seen that technique before. It was a pleasure to fight against it. You were too rigorous in your timing however, flexibility is essential when facing a new opponent." Lucy nodded and then winced. Gray and Natsu felt her pain, but they were even more surprised Lucy had lasted twenty minutes against the Titania, even if it was a practice bout.

"Wait, does this mean you believe me?" Lucy asked excitedly. Erza didn't say anything, but she did start on the short path towards the guild.

Nalu********************************************************************

I was nervous about entering the guild again, but I made myself go through with it since my team was watching me. Still, I hesitated outside the doors, looks of betrayal marching through my memory. Natsu noticed when I didn't step in the doors and seemed to read my mind, he held out his hand and memories of our first adventure in Hargeon came back to me. I had just told everything to Gray last night, and here he was again, holding out a hand to bring me home. I grasped it and let him pull me inside.

It was empty, the way a bar should be at seven in the morning, and I relaxed.

"What are you guys doing here this early?" Mira's voice sounded across the room, I flinched, what she thought I said about Lisanna running through my mind. How could she not hate me after that? The article called Lisanna a manipulative, possessive, jealous, bitch, and that was probable the biggest lie in the entire magazine, but other people wouldn't know that since she has been gone for two years.

"We need to see the request logs for November Mira, Lucy claims she had taken a job that went sour and was kidnapped. If this is true there is no possible way she could have done that interview with Sorcerer Weekly." Mira's eyes finally found me and I gave a small apologetic wave. All business, she agreed and fled to the back where the records were kept, and I then quickly grabbed my suitcase that I left here yesterday and felt my heart break a little at letting someone other than Momma read her mail. Still, it was the only place I had recorded my personal experiences from the day to day, and it wasn't like there was anything really embarrassing in there. Just desperate pleas and hopes that my teammates would hurry up and save me from the darkness.

Making them read that would probably hurt much worse than any punch I could give.

"Here are the letters to my mom I wrote, each one dated based on when I thought it was. Just know that I don't blame you anymore, okay? I understand now why everything happened the way it did." With a shaky hand, I put twenty-five letters on the table, and Erza just watched carefully. I knew she would read them, Erza was the big sister of the entire guild, even to those older than she was, and she had to be absolutely 100% sure I was being honest. Still, it was my soul she was going to read, and I would trust no one else but these three to see it.

The atmosphere was tense as everyone stared at my letters, they had broken into my apartment too many times not to know what was sitting in front of them, but up until now, they had respected my privacy. The last of my barriers shattered with that one simple action, they could break me beyond repair at this point, but I would take the risk if it meant Mission Life Retrieval was a success. It wasn't just my friends I had been fighting for, it was my life.

Erza reached out to pick up the earliest marked letter, but dropped it as though it scalded her when Mira came back in holding an enormous book.

"Let's see here, November 20th?" Mira opened the book to the correct page and in my clear cursive was noted the client, the reward, and signed with my name. Next to it was the signature of the client, meaning the job had been completed and the money paid in full. Someone let out a breath and Natsu slung his arm around me.

"See? Nothing to worry about, I knew you were telling the truth."

"Can it Ash Breath," Gray said, "You were just as suspicious of her as the rest of us."

"Looks like Lucy did take a job this day," Mira said slowly, "but it was two weeks later the magazine came out, how does this prove anything?"

"Exactly Mira, it adds circumstantial evidence, Red Forest is a common hide out for the renegade wizards Lucy claimed kidnapped her, but these letters need to be read to make sure. Mira? If you would help me—"

"NO!" I yelled, just barely resisting the urge to snatch all my letters back. Everyone was looking at me as I try to explain myself.

"Not Mira, Gray and Natsu can help, but only you guys. Then they go straight back into my bag. I'm sorry Mira, it's just…" I put my hands up to cover my face, but through my fingers I saw Erza nod.

"I can agree to that. Mira, why don't you get Lucy something to drink? The sooner we read all of these, the sooner we can have this matter cleared up." When everyone left my hands finally fell from my face and I mouthed a thank you to Erza. Momma had the privilege of hearing about my darkest moments and daily triumphs, I loved Mira, but I wasn't ready to let her see me like that.

I saw the three of them pull a letter and start to open it, and suddenly I couldn't watch anymore.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. A small part of my brain demands that I did nothing wrong, that is my raw soul they are handling and I need it back, and I don't have to explain anything to them. I can't watch, so I make my way to the bar and slump down, waiting for Mira to come back from the kitchen, hopefully with a smoothie.

"So Lucy, you seem to have convinced those three you did nothing wrong, can I hear an explanation as well?" Mira said, handing me an ice water. Understandable, but disappointing.

"I can tell you, but do you have any fresh fruit? I'm starving after my workout with Erza." She came back and I start telling my story for who knows how many times. Mira's guarded face slowly relaxes into concern as I tell about the cage. Only half my attention was focused on this telling though, the other half was on my team who had yet to utter a word about my letters.

"Oh Lucy," she said, pulling me into a sort of half hug from across the bar, "I knew you could never do that to us, not after everything." Just before she let me go, I heard Natsu speak up.

"Damnit Erza, I-I can't read this anymore." I turn just in time to see Natsu wipe at his face angrily, "Lucy did nothing wrong. We were the ones who were stupid enough to believe Sorcerer Weekly, we were the ones who betrayed her." His voice cracked on that last word and he ran out of the guildhall.

Mira was looking at me curiously, but I couldn't answer her. Erza and Gray had their heads bowed, and they refused to lift them when I walked over and picked up the two letters Natsu had chosen to read first. By some horrible stroke of fate, they were the letters I wrote after the first week and right as I lost hope.

"I'm sorry," I repeated to them, not sure what I was apologizing for but feeling the need for it anyway, "I'm sorry. I tried to warn you."

"You did nothing wrong, We're sorry Lucy," Gray said, he stood up and took his time to carefully place all the papers back into the envelopes and place them into my bag.

"I forgive you guys, you know, it was all Black Rabbit and Poison's fault, they were worth an S class quest for a reason. Help me convince the rest of the guild and we can forget this ever happened." I just wanted things to go back to normal, that was the purpose of Mission Life Retrieval; the last thing I wanted was my team punishing themselves for acting like normal human beings.

"And Lucian," Erza finally said, steel in her voice.

"W-what?" I ask.

"The last thing you heard in Earthland was Poison say, 'should I contact Lucian to start the rumors'. He must have been the one to arrange for that fake Sorcerer Weekly interview that made us all think you abandoned us. I will start investigating right away. Gray, you help Lucy get her things and apartment back. Lucy, as soon as you are no longer needed to convince your landlady to rent to you again I want you to go find Natsu before he does something stupid." Gray and I nod while Mira looked on happily. We would put everything back to normal, we always did.

"I'll start telling the guild what really happened guys, meet back here at nine to go over how everything went, okay?" Mira added her part to the plan and everyone set off.

**A/N: So, how did you like it? Much better than the last chapter ehh? The title is based off of a line that was in the English dub. It was a flashback of Lucy meeting Team Shadow Gear for the first time and as Lucy mentions how nervous she is about her book Jet tells her that writing "is like showing your butt to the world." The next Chapter is called Hero complex.**

**P.S. I noticed the lines weren't showing up, so I hope this makes things clearer.**


	8. Hero Complex

Hero Complex

"So, you're back eh? Thought you had left for good." My former and hopefully future landlady said when Gray knocked on her door.

"That was a huge misunderstanding," I tried to explain, "I was kidnapped for a while and some rogue wizards spread lies about me to keep Fairy Tail off their trail. I was wondering if I could go back to renting my apartment since no one has taken it yet?" She eyed me carefully before getting ready to slam the door in my face.

"WAIT," I beg, "I have two months rent for you already, just please let me live here again." This time when she moved to slam the door in my face it was Gray that stopped her.

"What if she paid for the last two months rent and for the next two. I know she has done remodeling to the place out of her own pocket, and to be honest it is going to be constantly remodeled until she moves out. You won't get a better deal." Gray bargained. The woman thought about it, and I wanted to protest that I didn't have that kind of money, but one murderous look from Gray kept me quiet.

"All right, it's all yours," she said, and this time we let the door close. Only to have it open again as the key smacked me in the head, typical. "Tomorrow morning I want the money under my door. Your things are in storage block seven downtown. Welcome back Ms. Heartphilia." The door slammed shut a final time.

"Well, that worked out well," Gray said once we were outside.

"What are you talking about? I have 150,000 Jewel on me, I can't pay another 130,000," I panicked.

"I've got you covered," Gray said nonchalantly.

"I can't take your money! You worked hard for that, and—" My ability to speak was suddenly inhibited by the hand covering my mouth. Angry Gray was back.

"Just… just shut up okay? You should have been out of that pit months ago, I mean, you were counting on us and…it wasn't the same without you." He removed his hand from my face to run it through his hair, but I didn't speak. He was trying to say something important so I shoved self-righteous rich girl Lucy to the back of my head and waited for him to continue.

"Look, you had no idea what was happening in the outside world, but you kept your faith up for five months, despite the nightmares and the loneliness, and all it took was one stupid magazine article with your picture and signature for us to turn our back on you. Guilt is eating me up inside right now, and I don't deserve to look at you. If I can help you get settled again… just let me rescue you this time to make up not rescuing you before. Please." So that was the letter he read. The week I didn't think I slept because all I saw in my dreams was the darkness, and the feeling that nothing else was out there had me screaming as I woke up.

"How do you even have that much extra hanging around?" I ask quietly. I can't believe, I, Lucy Heartphilia, am considering letting him do this. We had stopped walking in front of some bar and Gray kicked a beer can angrily before answering my question.

"When we saw the article, Natsu and I got really depressed okay? Natsu wouldn't leave his house and I barely left Fairy Tail's roof, Erza dragged us out on the most dangerous high paying jobs she could find, thinking we would snap out of it with a tough enough opponent. We didn't, I couldn't even look at Natsu, but we got the job done. We didn't destroy anything, we never talked, and it was only a month ago when Master told us to stop pouting and grow up that we started living again. It still wasn't the same, but we tried harder. I pretended to be happy, but we didn't take things as well as you did. One of the reasons we probably snapped at you that first day was that you looked completely whole while we had been suffering. So yeah, I do have that much change lying around because instead of investigating and getting you out so you could make your own rent, we did stupid and dangerous things because we didn't care anymore."

I thought about Gray's story. Both of them had been so hurt, yet so willing to listen to me, these guys were angels. Everything about Gray had been wounded when he thought I betrayed the guild, and everything hurt worse once he read my letters, accepting his money wouldn't be selfish, it would be helping him heal.

"Then I guess I'll save both of our dignity and accept the money. You, my friend, should expect fabulous birthday and Christmas presents from me until the day you die." My joke seemed to work as his shoulders relaxed and he smiled.

"I bet I can get you better presents, you are much easier to shop for. A pretty skirt, a silver key, a book, I never want anything so good luck with that." We kept the banter light as we made our way to the storehouse, a nice break from an emotionally stressful day. Everything I owned was piled high in boxes. Eventually, using an ice-make cart, we loaded everything except a few miscellaneous items. But we still didn't have enough hands.

"Don't worry Gray, I got this." And in a nice little show-offy move I summoned Taurus **and** Virgo. Gray was suitably impressed. We probably looked odd walking back to my apartment like that, but whatever, I left Gray to start putting away my stuff while I found our resident Salamander. It had always been my job to look after Natsu before, I guess even five months of supposed betrayal wasn't enough to lose that position.

**A/N: I know you guys wanted Nalu, but that's next chapter. Which will come out tomorrow. I promise. I also uploaded another one shot, that should tide your nalu needs for another 20 hours or so.**


	9. Steel Wool

**Steel Wool **

He wasn't at his house, and I doubted he had the patience to go fishing right now, but I didn't know where else to look. A couple hours were wasted calling up and down the riverbank, like I said, I had never had to find him before, I could barely get rid of him. On a whim I checked the park by the Sola trees, oh yeah, another flower viewing party I missed. I wonder if I will ever get to go.

He was at the base of the tree he uprooted for me a year ago, sitting with his head in his hands. I quietly sat next to him, waiting for him to acknowledge me while I watched a beautiful sunset and felt the breeze caress my face.

"I'm sorry," he said when there was only a sliver of sun left on the horizon, "I shouldn't have broken down like that and we shouldn't have read your letters."

"If I didn't want you to read my letters, I wouldn't have let you. I trusted you—"

"But why?" he demanded.

"Huh?"

"Why did you trust us after what we did to you? You trusted us for five months, and we left you to rot, how can you still trust us enough to read those letters after that." Oh, that was what he was talking about, and I honestly didn't have a good answer off the top of my head. So I thought for a long time before answering.

"I guess because I wouldn't have trusted me either in your situation, there was no evidence that I hadn't up and left you like Igneel, like Lisanna. Why did I let you read them? My soul gets written down in those letters, and do you know what it means to see someone's soul Natsu? It means you see that person at their weakest, the moment when they are positive they will fall apart if one more thing happens. It means seeing them while at their greatest temptation, and they have one moment to jump or to fall. It means seeing them cry over their own weakness and pain. I have seen your soul Natsu, I see your soul all the time. I have seen Gray's soul on Galuna Island, and I have seen Erza's soul at the Tower of Heaven and on the beach as she let her friends move on. And they are beautiful, shattered and dented, but completely, utterly beautiful." I let my own words sink in, memorizing them to add to my next book, because every single word I voiced was truth pouring from my lips.

"I didn't trust Mira with my soul you know, consider yourself special." He didn't laugh. "I'm tired of being alone, I guess. If I kept up this grudge, if I never trusted you again, then why bother escaping in the first place? Now that you know what I experienced, I don't feel so alone." It was true, the pain felt lighter as I knew my friends felt my pain along with me, they loved me enough to share it, and I felt a part of something that no force in the universe could touch. My team had been waiting for the truth to come out, but even if I had done all those awful things, I would give it a month before they welcomed me back all the same, because we were stronger than any lie and any trespass. He doesn't answer so I keep going.

"It feels sort of like washing yourself with steel wool I guess. You need the steel in order to get every single speck of dirt off, and when it's done you feel sensitive and raw, but you know you are clean and can wake up tomorrow with all that dirt behind you. Now that you've read my letters, the pain of those weeks are gone and I'm raw all over. But tomorrow I can be stronger and better than ever before." The sun was completely gone now, so I changed positions to lying on my back to watch the stars appear. Natsu was still rigid beside me, so I tugged on his arm until he let me hold his hand and then went back watching the sky.

"Mind if I give it a try?" Wait what? Natsu actually wanted to share something personal with me? I did my best to act natural, not wanting to scare him off.

"Sure, if you think you are ready." He took a deep breath before starting.

"I love you. I loved you every single moment we were in Edolas, and while the guild was important to save, I knew that all I wanted to do was save you, because of all the times you've saved me. And then you save me again, the other you, right up until the real you showed up. It's like every version of Lucy has a tag team job to make sure Natsu Dragneel doesn't screw up and die. And I loved you even more for it.

And then you left, I didn't sneak into your apartment the first night we came back, I was passed out drunk at the guild, the second night as well, but the third night I broke in only to see you weren't there. You didn't even leave a note, but I figured you had something personal you wanted to take care of, like visiting your mom's grave. So I waited, and waited. The fourth day Gray and Erza broke in to find me and Happy searching through your things to find any clue to where you were. Your letters to your mom were gone.

I didn't sleep for the rest of the week, except for the times Erza knocked me out on the train to Acalypha and the Heartphilia estate. Your dad hadn't seen you and I was about to drop dead from exhaustion. Then the magazine came out. I had worried myself into a mess and there you were, arms around a handsome reporter telling lies about Fairy Tail like you wanted the world to hate us, like you hated us.

The one girl in all the world I loved more than life itself, hated me, my friends, and had desecrated all we stood for. I started thinking everything had been a lie, but every time I was about to convince myself to forget about you, that I should stop loving you and move on, I saw you crying and begging to stay at Fairy Tail. I guess that was when I saw your soul and I couldn't believe anything evil of a soul that pure.

So for months I was stuck between wanting to hate you and knowing something was rotten, but not having enough will or evidence to do anything about it. Ice Princess wasn't doing so well either, so Erza dragged both our asses out on all sorts of crazy missions. We took stupid risks, and Erza saved our lives more times than I want to admit, but nothing changed. I didn't use the time well like you did Lucy, you used faith and hope to make yourself stronger, I was stuck wallowing, not caring if I got hurt or died."

Natsu had never spoken like this before. He didn't speak in narratives, he didn't show his feelings, but here we were. Natsu Dragneel loved me, and I was watching him scrape off months of pain and regret with steel wool. His soul was showing, and it was dazzling.

"Then Gramps told me flat out that I hurting the rest of the guild with my behavior, and I saw it. I saw the worry eating Lisanna, Mirajane, and Cana. I saw the stress and pain emanating from Erza for the first time after the million or so times she had saved me from myself, and I saw Elfman, Bixlow, Freed, and Levy feeling useless as they read about another stunt Gray and I pulled in the latest magazine. So, I gave Happy and Erza a break and started taking care of myself again. It still hurt waking up every morning in your bed only to find you were still somewhere else, that you still wanted to be anywhere else but here at Fairy Tail with me. But I hid it and acted like I was over the pain you had caused, for everyone else's sake, because it only hurt me more.

I thought it was working, I was getting over you and that if I kept pretending long enough it would become real." He gave a sigh and looked at me, lying on the ground next to him, for the first time since he started his story. His thumb stroked the back of the hand holding his and I tried to wipe the awe from my face so he doesn't get creeped out. I forgot about it when he started speaking again.

"Then you walked in," he whispered, "You walked in looking hotter than Hell and smiling like everything in the world was perfect. I had been lying to myself, I could never get over you, and I was angry about it." His voice started rising and I consciously made myself not flinch, he needed to get this out, he was desperate to sound it into the air, "It's so stupid now because you had every right to look happy. You had been alone with no one but your perverted spirits for five month and the friends you were so worried about getting hurt looking for you were sitting together laughing. I don't even know what you were feeling right then, but Cana called you out, you looked so innocent and confused while being guilty, I snapped. You were acting like nothing had happened when you had dragged me and the rest of Fairy Tail through agony and at the same time you made me want to kiss you and never let you go.

Then you started crying up while we kicked you out and I hated myself. I hated me, and you, and Gray just because, and Erza because she tried to act normal. I didn't know where you were going, but my nose could have found you. I told myself I couldn't fall for your lies again so I wanted to get drunk, but no matter how many glasses Mira brought me I still remembered you begging to stay with your friends, with our guild, a guild-marked hand wiping away tears as we crouched in rubble. Mira must have been watering down my drinks the entire time, because by the time I got home my body had burned off all the alcohol.

I heard you and Gray in my house, you were telling about our first job together and I couldn't stop myself from listening. You made the memory precious again, something to be cherished and gone over again and again, because how exactly had everything turned out like that? Your anger as Everlue insulted your beauty, your confidence as we took down Virgo, and your awe at reuniting Kaby with his dad through Daybreak. I was about to come in then, but you started talking about when we first met, and I fell in love with you all over again. Then you asked Gray what to do if I didn't listen to your story. If you had told me that fairies kissed you and took you to another world where you met a dragon and became a dragon slayer, I would have taken it as gospel truth Lucy. I am _that_ stupid for you.

I walked in then, and the house was cleaner than I had ever seen it, and you were sitting on the bed, waiting for me. I had had dreams of that moment, of you and me being together and coming to a home where you would be waiting. I didn't even notice Gray for the first few minutes, and I forgot about the prick when you started telling your story. It was almost too good to be true, it made so much sense and everything inside of me was screaming that this is why I had been so depressed, because some part of me knew you were waiting for me and it wanted to go help you.

As I fell asleep, the world fell back into place, I could smell you and Happy next to me I would die before letting that feeling go. I was so relieved that there was another way, and you told your story so cheerfully, it never even occurred to me that the alternate solution came with an alternate price." I felt him pound the ground on his other side and saw him close his eyes, misery written on his face, tensed up again when I hadn't noticed him relaxing.

"We all knew that what was on those letters wasn't meant for us to see. You tried to warn us, but at least I felt that I deserved the most complete explanation possible for the torment I had to endure.

I was so damn selfish, we all were. It was your hopes and dreams and fears and pain we demanded to see, and you let us. On those pieces of paper meant only for the eyes of the dead we saw what we asked for, broken dreams and tired spirits, hopelessness and terror and pain and distraction. We did so much worse than tear off your clothes, we tore off your skin and demanded to see your soul. When I saw my name, how you were going to kick my butt the moment I saved you, how you were waiting and wondering what I would think of your book, if I would read it or I would ask you to read it aloud to me. When every page was 'is Natsu going to like the stronger me?' and 'Scorpio has the best joke about fire, Natsu would get a kick out of it' It destroyed me. I had tried to hate you, but you never stopped loving me, even after four months of sitting in a pitch black cage.

You are an angel Lucy of Fairy Tail, and I'm the selfish bastard that thought he was good enough for you. What kind of person leaves the one they love in a cage made of darkness for five months to wallow in self-pity. No, what person leaves an angel in a cage and spends five months convincing themselves to hate her. Maybe I really am the Demon Lord Dragneel."

I couldn't tell what Natsu was looking at, but I could see the stars. The faces of my friends, telling me exactly what I need to say to Natsu to make him feel better, if only I could understand their language.

"Lie down Demon Lord," I say.

"But Lucy—"

"No butts, when an angel says look up at the sky, you look up at the sky, got it?" Natsu gave a quick laugh and laid down next to me, I squeezed his hand in mine.

"You see those stars? The beautiful ones glimmering in order make sure even nighttime is never truly dark? People used to worship the stars for that. They connected the dots of light and drew pictures and stories out of them. Every child was told about Leo the lion protecting his friends and every adventurer looked to the Southern Cross for guidance not to get lost. They would ask for the bull's protection as they crossed through the night and imagined the ram's wool cradling them to sleep. People started claiming that spirits would show up and help them and they grew even more famous, those guardians of the night. That's how celestial spirits were born, pure faith and hope."

"I don't understand what you're trying to tell me Lucy," Natsu said.

"Well, all the spirits on my key ring were born out of those pure feelings, but they had their own feelings and became alive. Do they seem like perfect guardians of the night anymore?"

"Your spirits are insane,"

"That's right, so if beings of the stars made from faith and light are flawed, why can't we humans be. I gave up hope a couple of times, I wasn't perfect, but I would have died if I stopped hoping for rescue for more than a second. Depression would have consumed me and I would have killed myself, having faith in you guys was _literally_ my only option. That was a human trying her best not to die, so don't romanticize it. You had other options, ones that made more sense and would have helped you continue living.

There are no angels and demons Natsu, just imperfect humans doing whatever they can to make themselves happy. The closest thing in this world to angels are my spirits, and we can both agree that they are anything but, not that you are ever allowed to insult them, mind you."

Natsu and I watched the stars quietly, almost all of them were out now and we could see a sliver of moon on our left.

"You're right," Natsu said at last, "I feel raw, but a good kind I guess. Like coming back from the dentist, the times I don't bite his hand first I mean."

"You ready to go face the guild now?" I ask, rolling onto my side to face him. He did the same thing and when our faces were inches apart, the first thing he said echoed in my ears. _I love you._ I blushed like a thirteen-year-old. He must have seen my face despite the night because he laughed and reached over to ruffle my hair, only to leave his hand against my cheek.

"Yeah, we have to convince the rest of the guild you aren't a lying backstabber." Neither of us made a move to get up, then my brain processed just how close I was to my crush who loved me back and started panicking.

"YEP," I yelp, flinging myself into a sitting position. Luckily Natsu just laughed at me and we made our way to the guild in comfortable silence.

************************Natsu&Lucy******************************************

**A/N: So, there you have it, the Nalu chapter. I think Natsu would keep things to himself and then open up all at one time, I have a friend like that and it just seemed to fit. If Natsu seemed too eloquent or thoughtful, remember that he has had all day of meditating on this to figure out what his thoughts and feelings were. There is one more chapter, I can't decide between naming it "The Fluffy Epilogue" or "Home, Take-Two". **


	10. Home-Take 2

We enter the guild and this time I don't hesitate. This is my family, and there is no way they would refuse to listen to me.

"Lucy!" Levy cheered, and ran over to me to glomp me in a big hug.

"Levy!" I cry back, "Mira told you I wasn't a backstabbing traitor right?"

"Mira? Oh Lu-chan, I could care less about that. I'm just glad you are here and safe."

"What do you mean you don't care? Everyone thought I told horrible lies about them," she pulled back and gauged my confused expression.

"Sure I was mad at first, December and January were murder on me, but then I went out on a job with Gajeel and Pantherlily. Gajeel was convinced there was something fishy about the whole thing and in-between missions we would spend times looking for any sign of you," she leaned forward and whispered the last part, "we got really close if you know what I mean."

"AH! Levy-chan! I need all details. Why didn't Gajeel believe the article out of all people?" I asked.

"Because you are made of more honest stuff than that Bunny-girl," Gajeel said, appearing behind Levy to wrap his arm around her, "If I couldn't beat your cheerleader spirit out of you, then there is no way in hell someone else did. And it's not like it's hard to kidnap you. I figured a mind reader got ahold of you and forced you to take the picture. Never found anything though."

"Wow, if you weren't dating Levy right now I could kiss you." Gajeel shrugged.

"Takes a bad guy to know a bad guy if you know what I mean. I got the full story from the barmaid, you really have the worst luck Bunny-girl." I wave off his words, not sure if they were an insult or not.

"Yeah, but I'm an awesome friend, you'll never guess what I have for you Levy-chan. It got boring being locked in a black pocket dimension or whatever it was." Levy's eyes went wide and Gajeel's arm got thrown off as she jumped to hug me again.

"YOU FINISHED IT!" she squealed, "And dang, are those muscles I feel?" Levy started squeezing my arms and shoulders while I flexed for her. "You certainly didn't waste away."

"Yes to both, as soon as you can find me a tome copying spell you can have the completed manuscript. I know that was the real reason you kept searching for me." I winked at her and she squealed. Superstar Lucy Heartphilia, coming through, but before Levy could drag her new idol, me, off, Erza called for attention on the stage.

"Everyone! There has been a grievous crime committed against one of our cherished members. Lucy did not degrade the name of Fairy Tail. She has been stuck in a pocket dimension for the past five months created by the villain called Black Rabbit. Once the rogue wizards were defeated by the Trimen of Blue Pegasus, she made her way back home only to be met with anger and betrayal." I felt Natsu come up next to me and I pulled his arm over my shoulder. Erza then pulled the curtain back to reveal a round, balding man tied up and gagged to a chair. "This man is known in darker circles as Lucian Blacktongue, he was an editor for Sorcerer Weekly that has printed numerous false rumors to throw the Magic Council and Light guilds off the trail of prominent dark wizards. He will tell you exactly what he did in order to dispel any doubt that Lucy is indeed innocent of any crime against the guild." Erza cut the gag off his face with a single stroke of her sword, leaving no mark on his skin, but a clear warning.

"I am not admitting to anything, you have no proof!" he shouted.

"I would rethink your words Blacktongue, Lucy heard your name spoken by her kidnappers as the person to contact to spread rumors. In your office I found a box of letters Lucy had written to her mother over the past three years, that sounds like pretty damning proof to me. Now what you say next will determine whether you are sent to the Magic Council in one piece or five." With Erza glaring at him down her sword, Lucian seemed to reconsider his priorities in life. Everyone in the guild knew Erza was bluffing, but it was a sign of how serious this was that everyone no one blew it. At least, five months ago she would have been bluffing, I had no idea what had happened to her in between except for babysitting a depressed Natsu and Gray.

"Fine, I'll admit it. I was paid 400,000 Jewel to fake an interview with Lucy Heartphilia that would make all her friends hate her. I snuck into her house and stole information I could pervert and destroy this crappy guild with. They had promised me she was dead, and it wasn't the only time you snotty mages. You think your so cool, every time you end up on a cover, _I'm famous everybody loves me!_ You wouldn't be more than thugs if it wasn't for our magazine."

"I think that's enough," Master Makarov said as he joined Erza on stage, "You have caused much sorrow to me and my children, and I will enjoy seeing you answer to the magic council." He then addressed the audience, "We have been made fools of, but once again we have pulled through some of our darkest times. Let us celebrate the return of our beloved friend. Welcome back Lucy of Fairy Tail!" The entire guild cheered and there were tears in my eyes. This was the moment I had been dreaming of while stuck in the cage, everyone together and happy again. "Now that we are whole again, S class trials are scheduled for two weeks from now. Sorry for the delay, but certain members couldn't find right from left until this matter was resolved."

"Geeze, you ever stop crying Lucy?" Natsu said in my ear.

"Idiots, you're all idiots," I say, wiping my face. Gray came up to me later and said that everything was put back in place, even my bed, and Levy told me that she had some copy spells sitting in her apartment if I wanted to come over tomorrow. Erza told me to hit her to make up for the pain she caused, and surprisingly enough, I actually did (a promise is a promise, especially if it was to myself) and Cana apologized herself while offing me a glass of beer. I finally had a real conversation with Lisanna and we promised to go out for lunch on Friday to get to know each other better and show the world that there was no hard feelings.

Natsu didn't leave my side the entire night, and neither of us decided to drink (I think Natsu was scared that if his eyes left me for a second I would disappear again) but we enjoyed the party anyway.

*********************************NALU********************************************

When I woke up the next morning, I was lying in my bed, in my house, on top of my Natsu. Last night when we walked in, neither of us had said anything after I changed into my pajamas and dragged Natsu into bed with me. I was out like a light. Now, I should get up and go train, my muscles would not recover from yesterday if I didn't, but I couldn't leave him alone again. Cause guess what? I loved him too.

Once the sleep left my eyes and I was fully awake I started playing with his hair, running my fingers through it, flipping it this way and that, trying to decide which way I liked it best, in his eyes or sticking up. Occasionally I let my fingers trace his face, memorizing the jaw line, nose, cheekbones, eyes, with my fingers, as though I was blind and this was my only form of sight. Soon enough he was smiling and his breathing evened out, telling me that I had finally woken him up.

"Hey," I said softly, his eyes finally opened and he took in the fact that I was laying on top of him.

"Hey yourself," he replied, confused but content.

"I gotta go work out now, kay? I'll be back soon," feeling daring I got onto my hands and knees and gave him a little kiss before pushing myself off the bed.

"Did I hear right? Lucy wants to go work out? And she kissed me? I must be dreaming." I collect my exercise clothes and head for the bathroom.

"Stop teasing me, I'm still sore from sparring with Erza and the only way to fix that is more exercise. It's how they get you addicted you know." Before I could open the door, Natsu had his arms around me waist and his lips on my neck. He was shirtless and the butterflies in my stomach seemed to be on a caffeine overdose.

"I'll stop teasing you if you promise to wake me up like that every day from now on," he said. I turned my head and placed a kiss on his temple, reveling in the fact that I was the only one allowed to do this, to feel this.

"I promise to try," I say, other people can make lighthearted promises like that, but I couldn't. Natsu understood that and smiled, but something stopped him before he could let me enter the bathroom. His hands went flat against my midsection.

"Wait, are those abs that I'm feeling?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," I tease, releasing myself as it didn't look like Natsu was going anywhere soon.

"I love you," he said as I was about to close the door.

"I love you too."

End

***********************************NALU***********************

**A/N: This is the end, I really hope you guys enjoyed the story and I was able to show that there are other ways to turn Lucy into a physically stronger mage besides writing the entire guild out of character. Did I succeed? Was the last part so fluffy you could feel the sparkles? Did you know that the bulk of my stories, including this one, are written in third person, but I become so apart of the character that first person slips in and I have to make a really difficult choice and go through serious editing? **

**As for me, I have already edited a couple of stories and will continue to edit them (That replace document button has seriously become my favorite thing) and I still have several stories in my fanfiction folder waiting to come out. One is a high school AU based around the popularity system in Jamie Lynn Barne's books "Golden" and "Platinum" (I am really proud of the exposition I have for this one), and Avatar cross-over that started out as a joke but turned into forty pages of intense fandom melding. I also have a story where Lucy visits the future, but she died ten years previous to the date she visits, and a two-shot where Lucy gets to play big sister and help Wendy through puberty, and when the questions about sex and boys comes, Lucy is completely honest.**

**Wow, this went on for a long time, thanks to everyone who reviewed and will review, sorry if I don't take criticism well, I promise I am working on it. **

**Purely platonic love for strangers,**

**thecagedsong**


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